Was Mike Rice's firing from Rutgers the product of an extortion attempt by former staff member Eric Murdock?

According to a letter obtained by myCentralJersey.com, Murdock—the program’s former director of player development—sought $950,000 from the university last December to settle Murdock's claims of wrongful termination. Rutgers declined to renew Murdock’s contract last June, reportedly after a falling-out between Murdock and Rice.

Tim Pernetti may be following Mike Rice out the door. (AP Photo)

Murdock claimed he was fired for being a whistleblower about Rice’s physical and verbal abuse of players.

The letter, dated Dec. 27, 2012, and sent from Barry Kozyra—a colleague of Murdock's attorney, Raj Gadhok—also referenced video that, Kozyra wrote, Murdock showed the university last Nov. 26. The video was presented after athletic director Tim Pernetti asked for evidence that would back Murdock's claims of abuse by Rice, myCentralJersey.com reported.

ESPNNewYork.com reported Thursday that FBI special agent James Tareco was at Rutgers' campus in Piscataway, N.J., earlier in the day and was questioning people about Murdock. An FBI spokeswoman told ESPNNewYork.com that she could not comment.

Gadhok denied that his client tried to shake down RU.

“There’s no extortion. It’s not where we gave it to them and said, ‘Hey, give us this or we’re doing this or that,’ ” Gadhok told myCentralJersey.com on Thursday night. “Frankly, it was a response to their request for a settlement demand. There’s nothing atypical about it. It’s a settlement discussion to resolve the case.”